Adventures of the Miraculous
by TheSparkler
Summary: From high school drama to saving the city from forces of evil, this A-Z collection of one-shots and shorts stories has it all! What happens when Ladybug contemplates heroism? Can Chloe be nice for an entire afternoon? What is the true power of a cation? More to come!
1. Angels

_**Angel**_ : (n) a spiritual being believed to act as an attendant, agent, or messenger of God, conventionally represented in human form with wings; a person of exemplary conduct or virtue

"There are angels in the room, Bugaboo!"

"You're not dying, Chat, you're fine."

"Walls…spinning…"

"We're outside, Noir."

"Lights…fading…"

"It's noon."

"I've had a good run…"

"Get up, you're fine."

He cracked his eyes open to find his partner standing above him, arms crossed and eyebrows raised beneath her mask. Closing his eyes once more, he flopped his arm dramatically over his face, attempting to block out the sunlight glaring down on him. "Not even a little, Bugaboo?"

She shook her head, and he glanced at her from under his arm to find her shoulders shaking and lips twitching as she tried not to laugh.

"Ah well," said Chat, springing up suddenly (much to the surprise of the concerned citizens around him, who were on the verge of calling for help) and balancing his baton across his shoulders. "It was worth a shot, wasn't it?" Lips pressed together, Ladybug rolled her eyes and pulled out her yo-yo, throwing him a wink and launching the disk behind her, shooting off after it. Chat Noir, hearing the nearing police officers, sprang away in her wake.

Perched on the rooftop of a nearby building, the pair watched as the officers below worked to finish cleaning the park, righting trashcans and cleaning the final bits of debris that the Lucky Charm had missed (with a building to repair, the fluttering pink butterflies had missed a small part of the park). The pedestrians, all perfectly fine, were being consoled by both the police and each other. As the commotion began to break up, the pair saw Alya slip into the crowd with her phone in hand, on the hunt for first-hand accounts of the latest attack that she had filmed (from a distance; at least she was learning basic safety when it came to akumas these days).

"The Ladyblogger is at is again, LB."

"I see her, Chaton. I don't think she's missed an akuma in the last two months – that makes five in a row now."

He chuckled warmly. The brunette from his class was unstoppable, especially when it came to the proclaimed 'heroes of Paris'; there was even an akuma that she got to before they did, and she almost got launched to the Amazon rainforest because of it.

"Does it ever seem weird to you that she cares so much?"

Noir looked to the heroine to his left, leaning on her elbows against the brick wall that marked the edge of the rooftop garden. With the Luck Charm only a minute earlier and no use of the Cataclysm, the pair had time to talk before parting ways. "What do you mean?"

"Like – I don't know…I just-" She sighed, reaching for the air in front of her as though she could pull words from the clouds. "I'm just a normal person, you know? Just because a kwami chose me, or I have a mask, that doesn't make me some big superhero or something. I still just me, just in a spotted suit instead of ballet flats."

" _Just_ you?" Ladybug looked to her right to find him looking at her with an odd expression on his face. Looking back down at the park, Chat twisted his baton in his hand to burn through the last of his built-up adrenaline.

"There's nothing _just_ about you, LB. You were chosen for a reason. Maybe it was because of your caring heart, or your fantastic wit, or your ability to know the right thing to say when someone is alone or scared – or maybe all of the above." He turned to lean his back against the wall, closing his eyes and basking in the sun as he did so. He could feel her beside him and imagined pulling words from the sun and passing them to the blue-haired girl beside him.

"Being a hero isn't all about super-cool outfits and flying from building to building all the time. It's about stopping to talk to people, or working with the police when they need us, or doing something that doesn't seem like much but it has the chance to make someone's whole day." He arched his back against the wall, feeling the muscles pull and relax around his stretched-out spine. The baton went still in his hand as he continued.

"I have a friend from school who reminds me of you," he started again. "She's smart, and kind, and she once said that it's hard to be creative under pressure."

"That's great," she said, "but what does creativity have to do with stopping akumas?"

"I think that creativity is something that comes to you whether or not you're looking for it, so she is always ready in case an idea strikes." He straightened back up slowly and stretched upward, reaching for the sky above them. "I think that heroism is similar to creativity. When an akuma attacks, you don't have time to go _looking_ for the answer, so you have to be ready when comes to you."

"And what if it doesn't?"

"That, m'lady, is why you have me." Chat smiled and opened his eyes, turning back to the park below. "Being a hero may not be all about the cool moves, but at least I'm good for something."

His partner's face deadpanned as she looked out over the emptying park below. "What are we going to do with you, kitty?" He smirked mischievously, looping his baton through the back of his suit.

"Kiss me?"

Ladybug actually broke into laughter at that one – and not just a little giggling, but full-blown peals of laughter that seemed to ring out through all of Paris. "And why," she wheezed, doubling over and holding her midsection, "would I ever do that?" Noir pretended to look wounded, pressing his hand dramatically over his chest and dropping into a mock-pout. "I just saved you from a ferocious man-eating beast and this is how you thank me?"

"It was a dog, Chaton," she gasped, wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes."Not a dinosaur."

"A really big dog!"

She pulled herself together (kind of) and looked up at his face, then dropped to a crouch as laughter exploded once more.

"Hey, it was an extra-large poodle, okay!" His arms were crossed and he did his best to look indignant, just now realizing that the front of his black suit had attracted a fair amount of curly white dog hair.

"It just…knocked you over…" She gasped, trying desperately to get out the next sentence. "I don't… even think you… slowed it down!"

He held his frown, determined to believe that just because the dog had run through the park after the akuma was gone had no bearing whatsoever on its dangerousness. He had saved her from a ferocious bout of dog lick, of that he was certain. Jumping in front of the oncoming poodle had been an extreme act of bravery, and heaven help him but he was determined to have the honor of a kiss from his very own angel. Several minutes later when she swung away, he smiled and waved dramatically as she flew, her laughter still floated through his mind. He had waited this long, he reasoned. She'd come around someday, he knew – and he could hardly wait until that day finally came.


	2. Bourgeois

_**Bourgeois**_ : (adj.) of or characteristic of the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes

Chloe Bourgeois was _not_ spoiled. Just because her father (the Mayor of Paris) loved her enough to buy her things when she asked did not make her _spoiled_ , no matter what that ignorant red-haired girl had to say about it.

 _Besides,_ she thought with a sniff, _anyone pairing black glasses with that horrible plaid shirt of hers clearly didn't know enough to go around judging anyone, much less the only daughter of the Mayor. Who did she think she was, anyway?_

"Hey Chloe, wait up!" At the call behind her, the blonde straightened up and quickly wiped her nose, flipping her sunglasses down over her pink-tinted eyes. Taking a deep breath, she spun around and nearly crashed into the boy that was jogging to catch up with her, a fake grin already plastered into place. "Adrikins!"

"Hey, I just wanted to tell you that Alya is sorry for what she said. She didn't know and she really didn't mean it-"

"Forget it Adrien, her opinion doesn't bother me." _Anymore_.

"No really, is there someway we can make it up to you?"

"We?" Chloe looked at him skeptically over the rim of her glasses. "Who is we?"

"Alya, Marinette, and I. Nino's wasn't here today or he would be in to, but we all want to make it up to you, really." He ran his hand through his hair, flashing her a picture-perfect smile. "What are you doing tonight?"

She sniffed haughtily, doing her best to sound uninterested. "I already have plans, but thanks anyway I guess." With that, she spun on her heels and yanked open the back door of the sleek silver van that had just pulled up beside her, her driver sitting patiently in the front seat. Adrien held the door open as she ducked in and closed it carefully behind her. The driver, well accustomed to the demands of his charge, drove swiftly away.

* * *

"Daddy, I'm home!" The words echoed through the empty entryway, bouncing back off of the marble walls. Sulking to the kitchen, Chloe found a note from her father.

 _My dearest Chloe,_

 _An emergency meeting came up, so I will be gone until tomorrow. There is food in the fridge for the butler to prepare and the maid was in today, so everything should be clean for you. Much love!_

 _AB_

Chloe, now feeling very alone, balled up the paper and threw it across the kitchen in frustration. Grabbing a popsicle from the freezer, she headed up to her massive – empty – room in calm silence. After laying on the couch for almost an hour, surfing through her phone and thinking about how miserable she was, she let out another sigh. Her finger hovered over her messaging app, and feeling as though she was going to regret it, she fired off the text before she could change her mind.

 _Change of plans. Does the offer still stand? -CB_

Less than a minute later, her phone chimed a response, the sound echoing cheerfully in her empty room.

 _Absolutely! Meet us at the Dupain-Cheng bakery in 15? -AA_

Chloe hesitated again, but what else did she have to do for the night? Cold pasta by herself didn't sound very appealing, anyway.

 _I'll see you there -CB_

* * *

Chloe stepped out of the car and waved at the driver, who nodded and drove away, headed to the nearest park to spend the afternoon. Looking through the window to the bakery, the blonde blew her bangs out of her eyes and hesitated, tempted to call the driver back and just go home. Before she could reach for her phone, however, the door in front of her opened with a cheery jingle of bells to reveal a pair of startling green eyes and a dazzling smile.

"Chloe, you made it!" He pulled her inside and weaved through the displays to the counter, where a pair of their classmates waited, one blue-haired and anxious looking and the other with a phone in hand and a skeptical look on her face. Adrien, still in the lead, led them all around the corner to the bakery's enormous kitchen, which was currently empty, as the bakery was closed for the day.

As Chloe circled to look at the plethora of mixers, spatulas, and cupcake towers that decorated the counters, Marinette and Alya began pulling ingredients and pans out of various cabinets and refrigerators. Adrien winked at his friend and crossed the room to start up the smallest oven, moving through the settings with ease, thanks to the lessons from Marinette earlier in the year. Chloe, realizing what they had planned, began to fear for the safety of her manicure.

"And what, exactly, am I doing here?"

Adrien beamed, ridiculously excited that she had come and determined to make up for the grudging acceptance of the other two girls. "Making cupcakes, of course! It's going to be great, Marinette has this amazing recipe and Alya suggested decorating Ladybug-style-"

"-which is great because we already have red and black frosting, so we won't have to worry about making more," Marinette finished, gesturing wildly and accidentally knocking a bowl to the floor. Blushing slightly, she reached down to retrieve the clattering metal just as her father came around the corner to see how they were doing.

"You haven't even started yet? We'll we'd better fix that!" He passed aprons out to all of them (Marinette slipped her personalized apron on over her head after grabbing it from her hook near the door), and Chloe quickly found herself caught up in the baker's enthusiastic energy.

"So, Miss Bourgeois, how long have you been baking?"

She responded without looking up from the recipe book he held out (for her benefit – he knew it by heart, she was sure). "Um…never?" It came out more like a question than an answer, but she got her point across none the less. Mr. Dupain, thinking he had heard her wrong, stopped mid-stride on his way to the fridge and looked back at her.

"Never?" Chloe shook her head and shrugged, trying to look bored. "Daddy's chef always bakes for us."

The phone rang at the front counter of the bakery, making them all jump slightly. Marinette's father, handing off the book to their skeptical sous chef, winked at Adrien and left the kitchen to answer it. Alya and Marinette, used to working together, reached across each other for measuring cups and spoons, narrowly missing hitting the other in the nose. Chloe, left standing by herself in the middle of the kitchen, sighed and blew a stray piece of hair out of her eyes. _I'm already here, right? It's not like I have anything better to do tonight._

To the surprise of her classmates (while Adrien broke into a grin behind them as he turned to wash his hands), Chloe stepped up to the counter and propped the recipe book on one of the many stands that littered the counter.

"How do we start?"

* * *

"Can someone help me with my sleeves?" Alya called, nearly elbow-deep in dishwater and watching the sleeves of her jacket slide precariously down her arm toward the soapy bubbles.

"I got it!" Chloe, who was on drying duty (Marinette and Adrien were in charge of putting things away after they were cleaned), reached carefully over the sink to snag the offending fabric, rolling it instead of just pushing it up the redhead's arm. Satisfied that it would stay, she rolled Alya's other sleeve to match, taking just a moment to make sure they were even before accepting the clean dripping bowl from her classmate. They finished the dishes in record time, and the oven timer went off just as Marinette put the last spoon away.

"Hey Chlo, could you grab some oven mits? They're in the drawer to your right." Handing the protective gloves to Adrien, she stepped back to give him room to open the oven and retrieve the final pan of chocolate cupcakes. Marinette, flushed red from the heat, reached around him to open the fridge and pull out the cooled pan to make room for the hot one.

"And now," she said, dropping each one carefully onto a clean stretch of counter, "the best part-"

"-decorating time!" Alya announced, joining them at the counter armed with four piping bags of frosting – one black, one white, and two red. Adrien, claiming the black, curled his arm protectively around his cake of choice. "No peeking, it's a surprise."

Chloe, red in hand, laughed, and found the taste was strange in her mouth. It was like the first time she tried sushi, she realized; strange, yet incredible.

Almost an hour later, Chloe twisted the plastic bag to force the last of the frosting into the tip, dotting it onto her cupcake with a dramatic flourish and a grin. She leaned back to look at her final creation, opening and closing her hand to work out the stiffness that had come from squeezing the icing bags for so long. She had covered the top of the miniature cakes with red icing and dotted it with black to create a pattern to mimic both the insect shell of a ladybug and the suit of the heroine of Paris. Alya, who had quickly figured out what she was doing, had quietly offered her a flowery tip to make the spots decorative. Alya had done several in both black and red; using the rounded edge of the cupcakes as a marker, she had wrapped the colors around each other in a yin-yang symbol, taking care to make sure that there was an even amount of both colors. She had opted to use white for the dots near the middle for some ("For dramatic effect!"), while others held true to the black-on-red and red-on-black crossover.

As Chloe carefully tucked her creations onto the rack on the counter, she looked over Alya's shoulder to see what Marinette had done. The blue-haired baker, well used to working with the icing bags, had drawn actual miniature ladybugs, complete with three pairs of legs, two pairs of wings, and a pair curling antennae on each. She had even used the white to add details to the spots and had put tiny flowers around the edge of the cake. As she finished her final cupcake, she reached into a nearby cupboard and pulled out three smaller containers, putting several cupcakes into each to send home with the people who had helped make them.

Marinette, who disliked having to clean tiny icing tips and bags, had thought ahead and used single-use bags that could just be thrown away when they were done. Adrien, his surprise creation tucked safely at the back of the counter under a napkin cover, had snagged the icing tips from each bag and put them all in a bowl of water in the sink to soak, as the quick-to-harden homemade frosting had solidified in the miniscule metal ridges. Just as Alya was wiping the final dusting of flour from the counters, Mrs. Cheng (whose husband hadn't reappeared after his phone call), offered to host all of them for dinner.

"We'll be right up, momma!" Marinette gathered the aprons from the group and hung them all up to dry (Chloe's was taken upstairs to get washed; she had discovered exactly _why_ she was wearing it when she accidentally spilled an entire cup of cream on herself when she tried to pour it into the bowl).

"So… are you having fun?" Adrien asked as they walked up the stairs, nudging Chloe's shoulder with a stupid grin on his face.

The blonde sighed. "I guess…it's more fun that I thought it would be."

Adrien laughed loudly, startling the pair of girls on the stairs ahead of them. He grabbed for Chloe's hand and bounded the rest of the way to the apartment, his elation at her presence undisturbed by her seemingly-limited enthusiasm. "Just wait – dinner is always the best part."

* * *

When Chloe made it home several hours later, it was just as dark and quiet as she had left it. Ignoring the empty kitchen and living room, she quickly climbed the stairs to her room. She shut the door and dropped her bag on the couch, cradling her container of cupcakes safely in her arms. She sat down beside her bag and cracked the lid off the top, startled to find one of the cupcakes was wrapped in a paper towel with a note on top (in a small plastic bag to keep it frosting-free, of course). She pulled out the curtained creation and unwrapped it as she read the note.

 _Thanks again for coming today, Chlo! I hope you had fun, and I made this for you, I hope you like it!_

– _Adrien_

Looking down at the cake in her hand, Chloe laughed – really, truly laughed – for the first time in what felt like forever. It was black and red, like the rest, but this one was different than anything else they had done. This particular cupcake was mostly black, with several red spots dotting the top – Adrien had decorated it not for Ladybug, but for Antibug.

 _After all_ , Chloe thought as she took several photos of the design before starting to peel off the cupcake paper to eat the sugary creation. _Not all villains stay evil in the end._

Marinette, Alya, Adrien, and Nino had dinner together every couple of weeks, usually at Marinette's house, she had learned. As Chloe was walking through the bakery to meet her driver after dinner, the blue-haired designer had stopped her in the doorway.

"Do you…do you want to come next time, too?"

This time, when Chloe smiled, she meant it.

* * *

 _ **Want more sappy baking? Check out**_ **The Bake Off** _ **for the full story of how Marinette teaches Adrien to measure, use an oven, and that you should never be afraid of frosting!**_


	3. Cation

_**Cation**_ : (n) (in chemistry) a positively charged ion, i.e., one that would be attracted to the cathode in electrolysis

"Can anyone tell me the difference between a cation and an anion?" Ms. Mendeleiev asked, peering at them over her glasses and leaning forward over her desk. Marinette, who had done the reading earlier in the week, sat up a little straighter – Adrien, who had not, seemed to shrink in his chair right before her eyes, much to the amusement of Nino beside him.

"Alya?"

The brunette, who had spent most of the previous evening chasing Ladybug and Chat Noir around Paris while they tried to patrol, burst into a sudden coughing fit, scrambling for her backpack and the water bottle in its side pocket. Marinette tried hard not to laugh as her friend struggled to inhale, tears forming in the corners of her eyes at the force of her sharp exhales. Their teacher grudgingly turned her attention elsewhere, and the blue-haired girl poked her friend in the side accusingly.

"What convenient timing you have there, oh she-who-always-does-her-homework." Alya, getting her breath back, fought back a smile as she took another drink of water from the almost-empty bottle and crossed her legs, siting back in her seat once again.

"Marinette?"

"It's an ion with a positive charge in an atom, opposite an anion, which has a negative charge."

"Well done, Marinette, well done!" Ms. Mendeleiev turned back to the board and began drawing a diagram, thankful that at least one person in the room had done their homework. "These ions may be small, but they are very powerful. Often we find students that will use the _cat_ in cation to help them remember the difference between the two, because cats are always _paw_ s-itive!"

The designer smiled, thankful she had a kwami that liked science so much and was always willing to help her study ahead of time. In front of her, Adrien looked up, seemingly both started and impressed at the pun (little did Marinette know that he was mentally saving it for later).

"Oh who cares, anyone could have guessed that. It's not like it's hard anyway." Just like that, Chloe was at it again. Marinette dropped her head slightly and bit her lip, suddenly very interested in the open notebook on her desk, the page already half-filled with small, neat handwriting and carefully labeled diagrams. She had to resist the urge to doodle in the margins, and crossed her arms to hide her fidgeting.

"C'mon Chloe, you don't have to be so _catty_ about it."

Marinette snorted, clapping her hand over her mouth before anyone noticed. The words might have come from the boy that sat in front of her, but for just a second all she could picture was another head of blond hair, complete with green eyes and a black suit. She could hear him say the very same thing in her head, patting himself on the back for the pun that not only fit him, but the topic of class as well.

 _If only Chat Noir was here right now…then Chloe would pay attention to him instead of me!_

Marinette glanced up to find Adrien looking at her over his shoulder, his eyebrows raised and a smile fighting for control of the lower half of his face.

 _And Adrien claims that he doesn't know anything about Noir…a pun_ and _that face? Geez, it's like he's_ _ **trying**_ _to look like Chat!_

She managed to look back at him with a semi-straight face – that is, until he hissed quietly at her in a near-perfect imitation of her masked partner. The laughter started somewhere in her stomach, working its way through her until she was literally shaking, lips pressed together and tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she held her breath in a vain attempt to contain the giggles that were trying to force their way out of her. She glanced up at their teacher (who had glared at Chloe and was now facing the board once again, trying to explain the parts of an atom), then at Alya, who had missed most of this exchange and was looking rather concerned.

"Girl, are you okay?"

Marinette looked back at Adrien, who wiggled his eyebrows and crossed his eyes at her, puffing out his cheeks at the same time. A snort of laugher burst briefly from her mouth, and she broke into a coughing fit as half the room began to look her way to see what was wrong. Alya, eyebrows raised and a slight smirk on her face, offered up her water bottle as Marinette continued to cough to hide the now impossible-to-hold-back, hyena-like laughter that was exploding out of her. She honestly couldn't remember the last time she laughed this hard, and it was starting to hurt her midsection. Ms. Mendeleiev, looking alarmed, took a couple steps in her direction in case she needed assistance.

"Marinette, do you need to step out for a moment?" Marinette nodded, holding up the empty water bottle in a request to go fill it up as she continued to struggle for a proper breath. The teacher nodded, and Adrien jumped out of the seat in front of her and grabbed for the bottle. "I'll help!" He was out the door before Ms. Mendeleiev could say anything, and Marinette followed behind, feeling the stares of her classmates on her back and finally starting to catch her breath again. By the time she made it down the stairs, Adrien had filled the bottle and was attempting (unsuccessfully) to screw the lid back on.

"Here, I've got it." Marinette took it from his hand and twisted the cap slightly to the right before turning it left, getting it back in the track and screwing it shut. She opened the flip-top of the flexible plastic bottle and took a long drink of water, her breath finally calming to normal levels (well, normal for being around Adrien, anyway).

"You okay there, Mari? I didn't mean to make you…die a little," Adrien said, attempting to look guilty. Marinette knew better, though, and had learned what it looked like when someone was trying to hide a secretly-pleased-with-themselves kind of smile (her partner had taught her well, after all). She took another drink of water just as his expression shifted mischievously and he took a step closer to her.

"Are you… _feline_ better?" Marinette snorted just as she tried to swallow, resulting in a startling spray of water out of both her mouth and nose.

"Do you need a… _purramedic_?" The blue-haired girl, water now dripping from her face and onto her jacket, glared up at him (or, tried to – it's really hard to be mad at someone that you're secretly in love with, after all). At the sight of his friend's attempted-to-be-indignant face, Adrien began to laugh slightly, holding it back just enough to say, "You look like a drowned cat, there, Marinette!" The blond snorted at his own joke, which quickly triggered a giggle, then a chuckle, then full-blown peals of laughter at this, his hands on his knees as his laugher echoed around them (his cackling had spooked a poor younger student walking by, which only made him laugh more). Taking advantage of his distraction, Marinette slowly raised the mostly-full water bottle, the top still open, aimed carefully, and-

Adrien shrieked – literally _shrieked_ , which sent Marinette's poor heart racing once again – as the water hit him in the face. He tried to jump out of the line of fire, but it was too late; the front of his shirt was already half-drenched.

"Oh that's it!" He lunged forward for the bottle, but Marinette was quicker and ducked sideways around him, leaving him reaching for empty air. She laughed as the next squirt of water caught his head and his hair drooped down over his eyes. He attempted to flip the hair out of his eyes, but only succeeded in flinging water in an arch around his face.

"C'mon Adrien, you don't have to be so… _catty_ about it…"

"Get back here!"

"Catch me if you can!"

Nino may claim that science is boring, but even he couldn't deny the power of a single cation and the puns that followed.


End file.
